Joe
Stump is one of the most intense and over
the top guitarists on the planet. His maniacal
guitar driven releases are amazing displays
of power and jaw dropping technical command.
He was named by Guitar One Magazine as one
of the ten fastest shredders of all time
and by Guitarist as one of the top 20 shredders
of all time. The American guitar hero returns
with his most diverse and complete solo
effort to date with “Virtuostic Vendetta”.
Not only a killer shred record but also
a great all around guitar driven release,
blending neo-classical speed metal, European
influenced shred and old school hard rock
into a great combination of playing and
tracks that will appeal to a wide range
of guitar enthusiasts and metal fans worldwide.

Great melodies, killer riffs and from
the heart emotionally drenched playing are
combined with all the insane shredding you’d
expect making this the most exciting record
of Joe’s career. Proclaimed by many
music experts as the ultimate guitar monster
you’ll hear why words like Godlike,
shred master, brilliant and many more have
been used to describe the Shredlord’s
unparalleled playing style.

On
the album’s new material Joe comments,
“On this record I kind of went
back and re-introduced myself to myself.
Two of my early albums “Guitar Dominance”
and “Supersonic Shred Machine”
were real favourites among my fans, and
this new record is quite similar in that
it’s fairly diverse with a cool mixture
of tunes stylistically, but it all has my
stamp on it. I’d like to think it’s
my best overall effort as every aspect of
this record is better than anything I’ve
ever done, playing wise, guitar tones, compositions,
production it’s all steps beyond any
of my past releases . It’s also a
very entertaining and listenable record
considering there are no vocals”.

A
strong Ritchie Blackmore vibe is prevalent
on this release, indeed inspiring one track
title “Blackmore’s Boogie”
as well as an original ode to the Rainbow
classic “Gates If Babylon” in
“The Dance of Kashani”. To his
credit Joe doesn’t shy away from hiding
his influences, “I never claimed to
be re-inventing the wheel. I just take the
great influence of all my heroes Blackmore,
Yngwie, Bach, Vivaldi, Gary Moore, Jimi
Hendrix, Uli Jon Roth, Schenker, Paganini
and try to craft my own thing with it. I
love guitar and I always try to make records
that guitar fans and hard rock/metal fans
will love as well”. Yet there is more
on offer than the neo-classical influence
such as “Old School Throwdown”
which is a nod to players such as Hendrix,
Frank Marino and Robin Trower. Joe also
throws down thanks to his influences with
the use of subtle phrases from well known
classics which the keen ear will spot in
a few places.

“Virtuostic
Vendetta” sees a guitarist in Joe
Stump who survived the changed musical landscapes
of the 1990’s with his career and
reputation intact and sees Joe 16 years
on from his debut album “Guitar Dominance”
in the strongest shape yet

Chasing
the DragonA fast classically
influenced speed metal opus. I always have
at least one or two of these types of tracks
on all my solo records. It contains some
cool European power metal riffage, a very
strong melody and a bunch of inspired neo-classical
playing.

Pistol
WhippedA very heavy track,
blending more thrash metal and heavier elements
with some sinister melodic playing and European
shredding.

The
Dance of KashaniAn epic style eastern
style piece, my ode to Rainbow's "Gates
of Babylon" if you will. Ritchie Blackmore's
one of my biggest influences guitar-wise
and I`m channelling quite abit of his vibe
on this track.

Fire
and BrimstoneAn Yngwie/Bach/Paganini
inspired neo-classical barnburner. I've
had tunes of this type on my other records
but this one could be the pinnacle of my
neo-classical playing. There`s a few tips
of the hat to Yngwie's classic "Far
Beyond the Sun" in there as well.

The
BeaconOne of the strongest
ballads I`ve ever composed, a very Gary
Moore-ish inspired tune. The melody is really
nice and I was very locked in and inspired
when I recorded the long outro solo.

Blackmore`s
BoogieThe title says it
all, a full-on, balls out Blackmore induced
fret-fryer, taking many of the ideas and
techniques I've gotten thru listening to
Ritchie and putting my own spin on them.
His great influence on me can be heard quite
evidently all over this record on many of
the tracks. What can I say you can't get
any cooler than RB.

Old
School ThrowdownThis one's of course
all about my Jimi influence with some Robin
Trower and Frank Marino thrown in as well.
I love those guys and that type of playing.
A lot of people aren`t aware of this side
of my playing but I always have at least
a few retro-types of thing on my records.

Allegro
#2 in A MinorAnother classically
influenced track containing some fairly
intricate playing and Paganini influenced
arpeggios, with a cool heavy Phrygian section
at the end that`s got some fairly evil riffage
going.

Trigger
HappyI don't know where
this one came from imagine Billy Gibbons
and Blackmore after quite a few espressos.

Symphonic
PandemoniumA solo type of violin
style classically influenced piece. The
guitar is taking the part of the lead violin
and the orchestrated parts accompany it.

The
Witching HourA dark, evil, gothic
tune with a sininster haunting melody, the
title speaks for itself. I love playing
over these types of tracks. One of my favourite
Yngwie tunes is "Black Star",
that first Rising Force record still remains
the benchmark of that type of playing and
he's still the king . I`m obviously channelling
that and there's a small quote from the
actual Black Star solo in the solo outro
section.

Strat
SorceryWhen people hear this
tune they'll immediately think Hendrix,
you know "Little Wing", "Axis
Bold As Love", "Castles Made of
Sand" etc. And I am dipping into those
Jimi chordal ideas, but the main influence
of this tune is from the Blackmore classic
"Catch the Rainbow". I`m drawing
heavily from that on the extended outro
solo and many other section of the tune.

• Eighth solo album from one of rock/metals
leading guitar authorities.
• Joe Stump is the metal specialist/shred
guru at the world re-known Berklee College
of Music, USA. As” professor of metal”
his former students include guitarists from
Firewind, Anthrax, Killswitch Engage and
Diecast.
• Named by Guitar One Magazine as
one of the ten fastest shredders of all
time and by Guitarist magazine as one of
the top 20 shredders of all time.
• Joe regularly tours over the USA,
Asia and Europe delivering solo concerts
and clinics as well as those with his bands
Reign Of Terror and Holy Hell.
• Joe Stump has a frenzied and hardcore
following worldwide.